David Swindle, the former police officer who is investigating on behalf of her family, would also have attended.

But their hopes of moving the case forward with an interview at a court in Benidorm were dashed today after the judge said it would be improper given her position of impartiality.

Five Brits remain under investigation as part of the homicide investigation into the circumstances surrounding Kirsty’s fall from a tenth-floor apartment in the Costa Blanca holiday resort on April 29 last year.

The judge responded in writing to the request last week, ruling: “It is not appropriate for the investigation of the facts and the impartiality of the investigating judge to hold a private meeting with one of the parties involved in this case and their investigators.”

READ MORE: Family pay tribute to Kirsty Maxwell one year after her death

She also urged them in her letter to provide any evidence or information they felt would assist her in clarifying why Kirsty, 29, from Livingston, West Lothian, plunged to her death from the Apartamentos Payma in Benidorm’s Little England area.

Her rebuff bodes badly for a similar request for a meeting by SNP politician Angela Constance, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, said to have been submitted to the same judge.

The request was forwarded to the Benidorm court probing Kirsty’s death by British diplomats, according to local reports.

There was no immediate official response from the court today.

Court sources confirmed last month Kirsty’s family were still being kept informed of case developments, even though they were left without a Spanish lawyer after Luis Miguel Zumaquero resigned last month.

The source said: “At the family’s request, the British consulate is also being notified.”

Judge Ana Isabel Garcia-Galbis is expected to close her homicide probe soon unless new evidence comes to light.

Kirsty’s family are appealing for witnesses to help solve the mystery but have had their hopes of a reconstruction in the apartment Kirsty fell from dashed by the judge.

The court is still awaiting the results of DNA tests on samples taken from Kirsty’s body to see if they contain DNA belonging to any of the five men under investigation.

The five suspects have been named as Joseph Graham; Ricky Gammon; Anthony Holehouse; Callum Northridge; and Daniel Bailey. They are all from the Nottingham area.

All five men, who are currently back in the UK after court quizzes, have denied any wrongdoing. None have been charged with any crimes.

The judge made it clear she is just a step away from ending her probe - and telling the suspects they will face no charges or trial - by concluding in a written resolution on April 23: “To date no new evidence that allows me to attribute the commission of a specific criminal act to the people under investigation has been obtained.”

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